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Last Saturday, August 29, we had the opportunity to host WordPress Campus Connect UCR Esparza, an event that brought together students, professors, and members of the WordPress community for a day filled with learning, projects, talks, and, above all, community.
But the story of this event began long before that Saturday.
Students, Community and Teachers posing for the photo
Building Partnerships from the Start
One of the first steps in making the event a reality was finding sponsors who wanted to support the initiative. Together with my team, we visited different local businesses in person to share our idea, explain what WordPress Campus Connect was about, where and when the event would take place, and, most importantly, why we believed it was important to create this kind of space for students.
Some of these businesses decided to believe in the project and become our sponsors. From that moment on, we stayed in close contact with them and received their support throughout the entire organization process.
One of our sponsors also gave us a valuable opportunity to conduct interviews with different members of the team, where we were able to explain what the event was about, its purpose, and what we hoped to achieve. This helped us introduce the initiative to more people and expand our reach before the big day.
A Day to Learn, Share, and Create
Finally, Saturday, August 29, arrived.
During the morning, we welcomed participants as they arrived to take part in the experience. The event brought together 45 people, primarily students from different universities in the area.
The day began with several talks. We had two WordPress professionals who shared their knowledge and experiences, as well as students from different fields who had the opportunity to share their own perspectives and what they had learned.
We also had a coffee and snack break during the morning, giving participants an opportunity to meet one another, have conversations, and begin building new connections.
Giveaways, Piñata, and Community
Beyond the learning experience, we wanted the event to have the fun and welcoming spirit that makes our community so special.
Before lunch, we held a raffle with prizes made possible through the support of our sponsors. Then, during lunchtime, we had one of the most fun moments of the day: a piñata! 🎉
It was a chance to relax, spend time together, and enjoy ourselves after a busy morning of activities. We also provided lunch for all participants, thanks to the support that helped make the event possible.
WordPress Campus Connect UCR Esparza Participants
Student Projects
One of the most important moments of the day was the presentation of the projects developed by the students.
These projects did not happen overnight. The participants had previously taken five workshops and spent several weeks developing their own ideas and building their websites.
During the event, they had the opportunity to present the results of all their hard work to a jury made up of two professors and one member of the WordPress community.
Four students were ultimately recognized and awarded for their projects. These prizes were made possible thanks to one of our sponsors and the budget we were able to raise for the event.
But there was something even more special: all the students who presented their projects received a ticket to attend WordCampWordCampWordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Costa Rica 2026, taking place this September. This means that the learning and connection with the community do not end with Campus Connect, but can continue at the next major WordPress gathering in Costa Rica. 🇨🇷
An Afternoon Full of Ideas
The afternoon continued with a series of lightning talks, featuring students and members of the WordPress community. We had three presentations that offered different experiences and perspectives in a dynamic and engaging format.
We also had a second snack break, which once again became an opportunity to talk, share experiences, and strengthen the connections among participants.
To wrap up the day, we held the remaining raffles, with prizes once again made possible through the generosity of our sponsors and the support of the event coordination team.
More Than an Event
WordPress Campus Connect UCR Esparza was much more than a one-day event.
Behind those hours of talks, projects, prizes, food, and laughter were weeks of planning, finding partners, communicating with sponsors and participants, organizing workshops, and working together as a team.
It was also an experience led by five female students from the University of Costa Rica, @lornamurillo@mpaulaos@brittanygarcia@luzfp06@alimezg who took on the challenge of managing the entire organization process. From planning and coordination to the design and creation of the event materials, the team was involved in every detail: T-shirts, pins, keychains, and other elements that helped give WordPress Campus Connect UCR Esparza its own identity.
In the end, we brought together 45 people and created a space where students, professionals, professors, sponsors, and community members could come together around something we all share: the desire to learn, create, and contribute.
A huge thank you to all the sponsors, students, professors, community members, and everyone who contributed to the coordination and organization of the event. Without their support, trust, and enthusiasm, WordPress Campus Connect UCR Esparza would not have been possible.
From the early planning stages to the day of the event, they were there every step of the way, offering their guidance, support, ideas, and encouragement. Having people who believed in the initiative and were willing to be there throughout the journey made a huge difference.
Thank you for being there from beginning to end and for helping us turn this idea into reality. We truly appreciate your time, support, and commitment to making this experience possible
WordPress Community
What Comes Next?
If there is one thing this experience taught us, it is that you don’t have to wait for someone else to take the first step.
If you are a student and there are people at your university, in your city, or in your community who are interested in learning, creating, and sharing around WordPress, you can take the initiative and create a space like this too.
What if the next Campus Connect starts at your university?
An idea can begin with just a few people, a conversation, and the desire to do something different. With the support of the community, local partners, and sponsors, that idea can grow into an event that helps other students discover new skills, build confidence, and connect with new opportunities.
So, if you have an idea for bringing WordPress Campus Connect to your area, take that first step! The next group of students ready to learn, create, and share might just be waiting for an initiative like yours.
For the past year we have been telling the story of WordPress Credits through updates and posts: students turning open sourceOpen SourceOpen Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. experience into skills that launch careers, institutions building contribution into their teaching, mentorsEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. guiding it all. Starting today, you don’t have to take our word for it.
TheWP Credits dashboardis now live, and it shows the growth and impact of the program as it happens: students enrolled, institutions involved, contributions flowing into WordPress, new sites built and skills unlocked, plus testimonials from the people living the experience. Data refreshes weekly, pulled directly from our program records and WordPress.orgWordPress.orgThe community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ profiles, so what you see is always the current state of the program.
Join us
The dashboard is public, and so is the invitation. There is room for you in this program:
Universities and schools: bring real open source contribution into your curriculum and give your students experience they can stand behind. Find out how you can launch your WordPress Credits program and fill out our interest form, and we will get in touch.
Companies: sponsor the program and connect with an emerging generation of WordPress talent.
Take a look at the dashboard, share it with a school or company that should be part of this, and come build the next generation of WordPress contributors with us.
See you at WCUSWCUSWordCamp US. The US flagship WordCamp event.
If you are coming to WordCampWordCampWordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. US, this is the easiest way to start the conversation. We will be at the Education Table during Contributor Day on Sunday, so come sit with us, explore the dashboard together, and see how you or your organization can get involved. The rest of the days you will find us around the venue, and we are always happy to talk students, schools, and contribution, so if you spot us (@peiraisotta and @gomp), stop us. We also deeply hope to meet in person some the students and mentors behind the numbers on the dashboard.
When I stepped into the role of Program ManagerProgram ManagerProgram Managers (formerly Super Deputies) are Program Supporters who can perform extra tasks on WordCamp.org like creating new sites and publishing WordCamps to the schedule. for WPCredits in Latin America, one of the goals I set for myself was to explore new ways of bringing students and educational institutions into the WordPress ecosystem.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a growing interest in contributing, but we’ve also identified a common challenge: many institutions want to participate but simply don’t know where to begin. While WordPress already offers well-established contribution areas, integrating an educational community requires clear processes, supporting materials, guidance, and methodologies that make that first contribution experience approachable.
With that in mind, over the past few months we’ve been working on a series of pilot projects. The goal is not to create new contribution areas, but rather to develop replicable models that make it easier for educational institutions to sustainably engage with the contribution opportunities that already exist within WordPress.
Today, I’d like to share the first two pilots we’ve been working on.
Pilot 1: A Replicable Methodology for Introducing New Users to WordPress
The first pilot emerged from a very special opportunity.
During Patrones Hermosos, an international camp organized by Tecnológico de Monterrey and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which came to Costa Rica for the very first time and was hosted at Universidad Fidélitas, we had the opportunity to introduce WordPress as part of the camp’s learning experience.
Three students from the second WPCredits cohort at Universidad Fidélitas took on the challenge of designing and delivering a complete WordPress workshop for 40 high school students participating in the camp.
Across three sessions, they guided participants through creating their first WordPress website using GutenbergGutenbergThe Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc.
https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ while introducing key concepts such as website structure, the difference between pages and posts, content creation, digital privacy, accessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility), and responsible publishing practices. By the end of the workshop, every participant had built and presented their own website, and the workshop achieved a 100% satisfaction rate.
My role in this pilot focused primarily on the educational side of the project. I worked alongside the team to design the learning experience, define the learning objectives, and develop the guides, templates, checklists, and supporting materials needed to both facilitate the workshop and document every stage of the process.
However, delivering a successful workshop was never the ultimate goal.
From the very beginning, we wanted the entire experience to become a reusable community resource. As a result, we developed a fully replicable guide that documents the methodology, roles, planning process, materials, recommendations, checklists, and evidence needed, so that any WPCredits student, university, or local WordPress community can organize a similar experience without having to start from scratch.
More than just a workshop, this pilot aims to demonstrate that an educational activity can also become a meaningful community contribution when it leaves behind open documentation and a methodology that others can adopt, improve, and reuse.
Pilot 2: A Replicable Model for Integrating Educational Institutions into WordPress Contribution Areas
The second pilot starts with a different question:
What does an educational institution need to successfully integrate into a WordPress contribution area and enable its students to contribute in an organized and sustainable way?
To answer that question, we selected Polyglots as the first contribution area where we’ll validate this methodology.
It’s important to clarify that this pilot is not simply about translating WordPress.orgWordPress.orgThe community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/. Translation is the environment where we’ll test a much broader process.
Our goal is to document the entire journey an educational institution follows – from deciding to participate in WPCredits to having students make meaningful contributions to the WordPress community. This includes preparing teachers and students, developing supporting materials, creating guides and templates, coordinating with the community, providing mentorship throughout the process, tracking progress, and documenting lessons learned.
This pilot will be carried out in collaboration with the Costa Rican Spanish Polyglots teamPolyglots TeamPolyglots Team is a group of multilingual translators who work on translating plugins, themes, documentation, and front-facing marketing copy. https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/ to contribute to the translation of WordPress.org into Costa Rican Spanish (es_CR).
The first institution selected for this pilot is Liceo Experimental Bilingüe José Figueres Ferrer, the first high school in America to join the WPCredits program.
Thirteen students are participating in WPCredits as part of their Community Service Program, creating a unique opportunity to connect academic learning with real contributions to the WordPress project. Because the school is bilingual, students will also be able to leverage their English and Spanish language skills while contributing directly to the Polyglots community and supporting the localization of WordPress for Costa Rica.
As with the first pilot, the objective extends far beyond completing a single contribution. We want to document every step of the process and build a methodology that other educational institutions can reuse when integrating WordPress contribution areas into their own academic programs.
If this model proves successful, it can later be adapted to other contribution areas, reducing the learning curve for new institutions and making it easier for more students to begin contributing to WordPress.
First meeting with students from José Figueres Ferrer Experimental Bilingual High School as we kick off our second pilot program. 🚀
What We Hope to Learn
Although these two pilots focus on very different experiences, they share the same purpose.
We want to better understand what helps educational institutions become active participants in the WordPress ecosystem and how those experiences can be transformed into open, well-documented, and easily replicable models.
Each pilot will help us identify what works, what can be improved, and what resources can help universities, schools, and communities avoid starting from scratch when introducing WordPress into their educational and contribution initiatives.
As both pilots continue to evolve, I’ll be sharing the results, lessons learned, and resources we develop, with the hope that they can serve as a starting point for many other educational institutions around the world.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, or similar experiences. I truly believe that one of WordPress’s greatest strengths is that our best ideas grow when they’re built collaboratively.
WordCampWordCampWordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. US is almost here, and the Education working group will be there with a dedicated table at Contributor DayContributor DayContributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/ on August 16. If you are curious about how WordPress is entering classrooms, campuses, and student communities around the world, come find us, we would love to talk.
What you will find at our table
@peiraisotta and @gomp will be there throughout the event to share an overview of the current community Education programs and answer any questions:
WordPress Credits: partnering with schools and universities so that students earn academic credits (or the equivalent academic recognition) by contributing to WordPress.
Campus Connect: WordPress events hosted on campuses, bringing the community directly to students and faculty.
Student Club: student-led groups that keep the momentum going between events, where students learn, build, and contribute together.
Faculty Training: preparing professors and instructors to teach WordPress and integrate open sourceOpen SourceOpen Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. contributions into their courses.
AI Literacy through WordPress: a brand new course on learn.wordpress.org to gain practical foundation in AI literacy built around real workforce goals.
Stop by to learn how each program works, what we have learned so far, and where they are heading next.
How you can help
A few things are top of mind for us at this WordCamp:
We are looking for mentorsEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. based in the US. We are about to onboard more students and more colleges, and the current group of mentors cannot stretch to cover the growth on its own. If you have experience contributing to WordPress and want to help a student find their way into the project, or if you are not an experienced contributor but want to learn how to support students, come talk to us at the table. Mentoring is one of the most direct ways to shape the next generation of contributors, and we will walk you through what the commitment looks like.
We want to connect our students to active local meetupsMeetupMeetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook.. A student’s first WordCamp or meetupMeetupMeetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. is often the moment the community becomes real for them. If you organize or attend a meetup in the US, we would love to map where our students are and introduce them to the groups closest to them, so that their contribution journey continues locally after the program ends.
We want to reach more institutions. If you have a connection with a university, a college, or a vocational school, whether you studied there, teach there, or simply know someone on the faculty, you can help us open a door. A warm introduction is often all it takes to start a conversation about bringing WordPress into a classroom, and we can take it from there. Come tell us about your institution and we will figure out together which program could be the best fit.
We welcome companies who want to sponsor the programs. Growing to more students and more colleges takes resources, and sponsorship is a concrete way for companies to invest in the future of the WordPress talent pool. If your company hires WordPress talent, cares about open source education, or wants visibility with the next generation of contributors, stop by the table and we will walk you through the sponsorship options and what your support would make possible.
Come say hi
Whether you are a longtime contributor, a meetup organizer, a professor, or someone who simply cares about bringing new people into WordPress, the Education table is for you. Stop by, ask questions, share ideas, or just say hi, we will be there with the table at Contributor Day on August 16, and between tracks and hallways until the last day of the event on August 19.
This post shares the experience ofJos Velasco, a first-time mentorEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. in theWordPress Credits program, and what his cohort revealed about how mentorsEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. and students navigate their first open-source contribution together. As the program grows, stories like this help us refine how we onboard, scope projects, and connect students to the wider community.
The WordPress Credits program pairs students with community contributors who guide them through their first open-source contribution. The framework is simple on paper: a mentor, a student, an immediate contribution opportunity, and a finish line. In practice, every cohort surfaces something new about what makes the program work.
This is a look at one mentor’s first cohort: three students, three different paths, and a few takeaways that other current and future mentors will recognize.
The cohort
Jos took on three mentees, all new to open-source contribution. Before choosing a contribution path, students complete an onboarding phase on Learn WordPress, with curated lessons, Playground sandboxes, and quizzes.
That onboarding phase is solid, but it can take longer than expected, both for students and for mentors. There’s a lot of material, and the schedule needs to flex around real lives. The trickiest part isn’t the curriculum: it’s the balance every mentor has to strike between enabling students’ potential and not doing the work for them. Open sourceOpen SourceOpen Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. isn’t an obligation. Part of mentoring is helping students want to contribute, by showing them why it matters and what they get out of it, rather than pushing them through a checklist.
Each of the three students landed in a different place.
Gabi: Photos as a creative outlet
Gabi Hawkins works as an IT technician moving toward web development. She chose Photos, which wasn’t directly tied to her career path but suited who she is: a visual person drawn to front-end work. Her submissions reflect that, a Japanese pagoda lit at night, jellyfish in deep blue water, koi beside a rock-lined path. Not test shots. Photos from someone with an eye.
A small, instructive snag: Gabi met her project requirements on time, but her certificate was delayed because she filled out the feedback form using a different email than the one on her WP Credits profile. The course system didn’t detect her completion. A small reminder for mentors and students alike to double-check that emails match across systems, especially when graduation is on the line.
T’Kai Monet is a full-time student and a full-time mom of a newborn. Her schedule was, predictably, unpredictable. She originally chose Themes and switched to Photos when time was tight, a smart pivot. What stood out wasn’t her output, though, but how she participated.
She attended a WordPress meetupMeetupMeetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. at 2:30 a.m., not because she couldn’t sleep, but because she was already up with the baby and decided to make the most of it. She wrote about it as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world. And in a global, async community, it kind of is.
This is one of the most important things any new contributor can internalize: the conversation will happen across time zones, and showing up in the rhythm that works for you is showing up.
Noah: Finding a meaningful path, not just a completable one
Noah Mobes spent real time early on looking for a path that felt meaningful, rather than the easiest one to finish. After working on Good First Bugs for CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress., he landed on WordPress Playground blueprints, small files that spin up pre-configured WordPress environments instantly, with no hosting required.
He created blueprints for Hello Dolly and Disable Comments, opened pull requests in the official GitHubGitHubGitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged by the repository owner. https://github.com/ repository, and reached out to the pluginPluginA plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. authors. The PRs weren’t merged before the program closed, but he documented his process and delivered a wrap-up presentation on WordPress.tv. His own framing: “this is certainly not the end for me in the WP ecosystem.” That attitude, and the documentation trail he left, is exactly what sustainable contribution looks like.
This plugin continues to be an inspiration for where to start extending WordPress
The moment that mattered most: reaching out directly
While T’Kai was submitting photos, several weren’t getting approved. The Photo Directory has real standards around quality and description, and queues get long when many students are finishing at the same time or when big events collide.
Sharing links and documentation didn’t move things. What did was going to the Photos Team page, finding the most active moderators listed there, and reaching out directly.
That message reached Michelle Frechette, who has contributed over 360 photos to the directory and has been part of this community for years. She responded immediately, explained exactly why the submissions weren’t passing, and offered to review T’Kai’s photos before she sent more.
That single conversation did what weeks of links hadn’t.
This is the lesson worth leading with for every new contributor: the WordPress community has no boundaries. People will help if you reach out to them. Not eventually, not after a queue, not via a form. Directly, by name, in the open.
What we’d change: scope projects around what teams actually need
The “30 photos to the Photo Directory” framing comes from how WP Credits structures its immediate contribution opportunities: each participating team defines a minimum deliverable that signals the student has made a meaningful, complete contribution, 30 CC0-licensed photos for the Photo Directory, a theme review for the Themes team, a Good First Bug worked on during a Bug Scrub for Core, and so on. That baseline matters. It gives students something concrete to aim at, gives mentors a way to measure progress, and gives each contributing team a consistent definition of “enough.” So this isn’t a critique of using a number as a goal.
But going through the cohort surfaced a hunch worth sharing. From experience organizing meetupsMeetupMeetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. in the LATAM community and producing video, it often feels like organizers are short on the kind of CC0 imagery they need: photos for event pages, social posts, recap posts, banners. So one alternative framing for the photo path could be: contribute photos that WordPress meetup organizers can actually use. That’s not a researched conclusion, just a sense from being on the organizer side of things.
What’s more interesting is where that hunch points. In a recent conversation, Isotta floated a bigger idea worth surfacing here: what if we asked the Photo Team, and other contributing teams, what kinds of contributions they actually need right now, and turned those into specific tasks for students?
That’s a meaningful shift. Instead of each team defining a generic minimum (any 30 photos, any theme review, any Good First Bug), teams could periodically share a short list of what would be most useful at a given moment, photos of specific subjects, theme reviews in a particular categoryCategoryThe 'category' taxonomy lets you group posts / content together that share a common bond. Categories are pre-defined and broad ranging., bugs in a specific component. Mentors and students could then choose from that list, knowing the work has a clear downstream use.
The finish line stays. The direction sharpens. And students learn the most important habit in open source: thinking about who will use your contribution before you make it.
This is a conversation worth opening up to the wider team. If you’re a contributing team repTeam RepA Team Rep is a person who represents the Make WordPress team to the rest of the project, make sure issues are raised and addressed as needed, and coordinates cross-team efforts. and have thoughts on what your team would surface as “high-impact tasks for students right now,” the comments below are a good place to start.
Takeaways for current and future mentors
A few things worth carrying into your own cohort:
Lead with the community early. Don’t wait until something gets stuck to point students toward direct outreach in SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/, on Make blogs, and on team pages. The lesson “you can just ask someone” lands better when it’s framed as a first move, not a rescue.
Talk to the team your student is contributing to. Beyond the minimum deliverable, ask the contributing team what would be most useful right now. A short conversation at the start can turn a generic quota into a project with a clear downstream use, and gives the student a real audience to design for.
Respect async as the default. Your students may show up at 2:30 a.m. their time, on a Saturday, between feedings, between shifts. That counts. Build your check-ins to accommodate it.
Help students find meaning, not just completion. The most durable contributions come from students who chose a path because it mattered to them. Give them room to explore early, even if it costs a week.
Sweat the small operational details. Email mismatches, profile inconsistencies, missing form fields, these can hold up certificates and graduation. Catch them at the start.
Document the wrap-up. A blog post, a WordPress.tv presentation, a profile update — documenting the journey turns one student’s experience into a resource the next cohort can learn from. Noah’s wrap-up is a good example of what this can look like.
And of course, thanks to Gabi, T’Kai, and Noah for trusting the program with their first open-source contribution, and for letting their experience help shape what comes next.
Are you mentoring, or thinking about it?
If you’re a current WP Credits mentor with stories of your own, what worked, what you’d change, what surprised you, drop a comment below. The more cohorts we document, the better the program gets for everyone.
If you’re considering becoming a mentor, the Mentor Guide is the right place to start. The interest in this role continues to grow, and that’s a good sign of where WordPress is headed.
The WordPress Campus Connect (WPCC) program has been growing steadily, with around 3 to 4 applications coming in each week, and the time it takes to move an application from “submitted” to “you’re approved, here’s your event site” has stretched to days, sometimes longer. Most of that wait isn’t the decision itself, it’s the manual steps around the decision: vetting against the checklist, writing the notes into the tracker, triggering the email, creating the site. @_dorsvenabili and I are working on cutting that wait by automating the parts that don’t need a human touch.
Here’s what we’re building, and why each piece matters. We hope to be able to achieve all our dreams listed below.
Automated first pass on the vetting. Today every application is read by a program supporterProgram SupporterCommunity Program Supporters (formerly Deputies) are a team of people worldwide who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about program supporters in our Program Supporter Handbook. who walks through the criteria and writes notes into the tracker. The criteria are documented well enough that an agent can do most of that first pass, and a vetter can pick up from there. The agent (already built by @piyopiyofox and being tested by @clk87) will run hourly, leave its notes in the existing “Add Private Note” field, and move the application to a new “Needs Action” status so the right person knows it’s ready for human review.
A simpler status list for Campus Connect. WPCC currently uses the full WordCampWordCampWordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. status list, which has eighteen statuses, most of which don’t apply to a campus event. We’re trimming the Campus Connect list to eight statuses that match the actual lifecycle: Needs Vetting, Needs Action, Needs More Info, Approved For Pre-Planning, Declined, Canceled, WordCamp Scheduled, WordCamp Closed.
Automatic actions when an application is approved. When a program supporter moves an application to “Approved For Pre-Planning,” a follow-up organizer email goes out with instructions on how to proceed, the site is created and its url shared with the organizer, an admin notice appears on the post, and an audit log entry lands in the private notes field. Today those are four separate manual steps that happen in different windows.
A small change to the application form. Applicants will need to read and check a box acknowledging the WPCC organizer agreement before submitting, should their application be approved. Checking the box is treated as equivalent to signing the agreement.
The technical breakdown lives in the tracking issue we filed: WordPress/wordcamp.org#1714. It covers the six steps we’ll land in order, the dependencies between them, and the open items where we still need final copy.
We’ll post follow-ups here as the project progresses and as we learn from the first batch of applications that go through the new flow. If you’ve vetted WPCC applications recently, or if you’re a Campus Connect organizer who’s been on the receiving end of the wait, your feedback would help us a lot. Please drop questions, concerns, or ideas in the GitHubGitHubGitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged by the repository owner. https://github.com/ issue or in the comments below.
On April 20th, over 60 students from Kraków high schools – VIII LO and XVIII LO – took part in the WordPress Academy.
This pilot project of the Polish WordPress community, carried out in collaboration with Klaster Zabłocie, aimed to introduce young people who had created projects (websites) at school to the WordPress environment and answer their questions.
The event was organized by members of the WordCampWordCampWordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Europe Local Team – Sebastian Miśniakiewicz (Local Team Lead), Katarzyna Krówka (Local Team), Magdalena Ślęzak (Local Team), Dawid Urbański (Local Team), and Krzysztof Radzikowski (Communication, PR & Marketing Team), who introduced the students to the WordPress ecosystem and its community.
Katarzyna Krówka showed how to get started with WordPress and how to configure it properly.
Magda Ślęzak covered SEO and accessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility). She showed what to do to make the students’ projects visible in search engines and LLMs, and how to make website content accessible to every user.
Krzysztof Radzikowski then focused on the hugely popular topic of AI and how to use it when working with WordPress, highlighting things like native AI integration in WordPress.
Dawid Urbański demonstrated – through a live coding session – that WordPress development is possible using AI, meaning WordPress can be used not just for building websites but also for other things, like creating custom blocks or… building a game.
Finally, Sebastian Miśniakiewicz, the event organizer, encouraged the students to visit WordCamp Europe and present the results of their work.
And there will be plenty to present. The students are working on at least 7 projects/websites:
A new school website to replace the current one
A thematically related site about the school’s patron, Stanisław Wyspiański
Board game and video game enthusiasts are preparing their project
Mythology fans are finishing work on their website
Because WordPress isn’t just a content CMS, another team is developing a flashcard app to make learning easier
Those who want to visit Kraków again after WordCamp Europe will be able to use a website dedicated to local events (concerts, fairs)
And since life isn’t just about education or sightseeing but also… the necessity of eating, sweet-toothed visitors will find a cookbook waiting for them!
The whole event lasted over 5 hours. There was no shortage of questions and consultations, which the students will use to finalize their projects. And during the break, delicious pizza – for which we thank Kraków Miasto Startupów.
We hope this won’t be a one-off initiative, and that we’ll meet again in Kraków soon to talk about WordPress with young people who, as we can see, know exactly how to use it to pursue their passions.
One of the most consistent things I hear from educators, community organizers, and WordPress professionals who want to bring WordPress education to their institutions and communities is some version of the same question: where do I start?
They have the knowledge. They have the motivation. What they often lack is a clear, structured pathway to go from “I could teach this” to actually teaching it.
The WordPress Facilitator Training Program is our answer to that question.
What It Is
The WordPress Facilitator Training Program is a free, open, community-powered program that equips people to teach WordPress topics to others. It is designed for anyone who wants to facilitate WordPress learning: campus educators, community organizers, freelancers, developers, designers, or anyone else who knows WordPress and wants to help others learn it.
There is no application process. No gatekeeping. No prerequisite credential. The resources are free, openly accessible, and built around the spirit of open sourceOpen SourceOpen Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL.: knowledge is not a scarce resource, and the more people who can teach WordPress well, the better WordPress is for everyone.
The program has three components:
Self-guided courses on Learn.wordpress.orgWordPress.orgThe community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ that build the knowledge facilitators need to teach a given topic
Facilitation guides that provide a practical, session-by-session framework for delivering 2 to 3 day workshops, written for people with no prior teaching experience
The WordPress Facilitator Training Program Playbook, which orients facilitators to the program, explains what is in it for them, and gives them everything they need to get started
What We Have Built
The first topic available in the program is Leading WordPress Education Programs: a 9-module, 41-lesson self-guided course covering open source foundations, WordPress basics, contribution pathways, and all three WordPress Education Programs (WordPress Credits, Campus Connect, and Student Clubs).
A full 2-3 day workshop facilitation guide with timed agendas, facilitator talking points, hands-on participant activity sheets, and reference appendices. This is a downloadable document which is available on the course page.
WordPress Education Programs are growing. Campus Connect events are happening at institutions around the world. WordPress Credits is bringing university students into the contributor community. Student Clubs are forming on campuses that never had a WordPress presence before.
Sustaining and scaling that growth requires more than a central team. It requires a distributed network of facilitators who are confident, prepared, and equipped to bring WordPress education to their communities independently.
The WordPress Facilitator Training Program is the infrastructure for that network. It is how we go from a program that depends on a small number of people to one that can grow wherever there are people willing to teach.
It also creates a genuine opportunity for facilitators themselves. Institutions, bootcamps, and companies increasingly need qualified people to deliver WordPress training. Facilitators who build a track record through this program position themselves for those opportunities. And as the WordPress ecosystem continues to develop credential pathways, such as the AI Leaders micro-credential piloted earlier this year at https://wordpress.org/news/2026/02/ai-leaders-credential/, facilitators who complete the relevant courses will be positioned to earn credentials that carry real professional value.
Where It Is Headed
The topic library is just beginning. The first course covers WordPress Education Programs. Future topics will draw from the broad range of WordPress skills and knowledge areas already represented on Learn.wordpress.org, as well as new courses developed specifically for the facilitator program. Every new topic that gets a well-designed course and a strong facilitation guide is another topic that community facilitators anywhere in the world can teach.
If you have expertise in a WordPress topic and are interested in contributing a course or facilitation guide, the WordPress Training Team at https://make.wordpress.org/training/ is the right place to connect.
We Want Your Feedback
The Leading WordPress Education Programs course is publicly available now and under active review. If you explore it, we would genuinely love to hear what you think. A few questions we are actively looking for input on:
Is the course content clear and accessible for a beginner-level educator?
Are there topics or lessons you feel are missing or underrepresented?
Does the course give you enough to feel prepared to facilitate a workshop on these topics?
Beyond the course itself, we are also interested in feedback on the program structure:
What topics would you most like to see added to the facilitator program?
What would make this program more useful to you in your context, whether that is a campus, a MeetupMeetupMeetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook., a bootcamp, or a company?
Are you interested in participating in an internal dry run of the 2-3 day workshop? If so, please note that we are actively looking for volunteers for this step.
The WordPress community has always grown because people show up, share what they know, and help others do the same. This program is an extension of that. We are building something that should not belong to one team or one organization. It should belong to the community.
We are just getting started, and we would love to have you be part of it.
Welcome to the Monthly Education Buzz Report, your go-to source for highlights and updates on the WordPress Campus Connect, WordPress Credits, and WordPress Student Club education initiatives within the WordPress community. This report aims to celebrate, promote, and inform individuals across the WordPress community and beyond about the diverse educational endeavors underway.
WordPress Campus Connect
March was a landmark month for WordPress Campus Connect (WPCC), with events reaching new countries and one of the largest recap articles in the program’s history going live. The program’s impact numbers page was also updated this month, giving organizers fresh data they can use in their own presentations and pitches to institutions.
Completed Events
WPCC KIST College, Kathmandu, Nepal
WordPress Campus Connect arrived at KIST College in Kathmandu with a full day of sessions and workshops. @utsavsinghrathour led a talk on careers in WordPress, followed by hands-on workshops from @codersantosh and Saroj Khanal. Students were engaged throughout the day, and many have already expressed interest in continuing their WordPress journeys and building a stronger community on campus. Organizers thanked Regan Khadgi and the KIST College team for their support in making the event run smoothly.
WPCC Keiser University, Nicaragua — First WPCC in Nicaragua
The very first WordPress Campus Connect event in Nicaragua took place at Keiser University, bringing a packed agenda of sessions to students in the region. @roblesloaiza (Rita Robles Loaiza) traveled from Costa Rica to speak, sharing her expertise with local students. @alexcu21 provided key support with logistics and on-the-ground execution. Lead organizer @sion99 shared the best outcome: students left so inspired that they’re already planning to form a WordPress Student Club and are looking into joining WordPress Credits.
WPCC Career Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan — First WPCC in Pakistan
On February 28, Career Institute in Faisalabad hosted the first-ever WordPress Campus Connect event in Pakistan. Lead organizer Abdul Rahman Pomy brought together more than 90 students and 11 hosts, including speakers, organizers, and volunteers, after a month of preparation and dozens of planning meetings. Jesse Friedman from wp.cloud joined as chief guest via video call, and @devmuhib (Muhibul Haque) served as event mentorEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues..
The event featured sessions from speakers Arfan Ashraf, Qammar Zaman, Usama Ijaz, and Waleed Tahir, covering WordPress fundamentals and career paths. Organizers Adnan Hyder, Sohail Anwar, Irfan Shafi, Muhammad Ikram, and Hamza Ejaz helped coordinate the day, with volunteer Abu Hurrairah supporting on the ground. Certificates included printed advice from WordPress community members Mary Hubbard, Rae Morey, Jeff Starr, Faraz The Web Guy, Chris Badgett, Anne McCarthy, Rich Tabor, and Miriam Schwab. The team is now looking ahead to establishing a WordPress Student Club at Career Institute. Photos and a video recap are available.
Event Highlights: WPCC Jinja 2025 Recap
The comprehensive recap for WordPress Campus Connect Jinja 2025 was published on WordCamp CentralWordCamp CentralWebsite for all WordCamp activities globally. https://central.wordcamp.org includes a list of upcoming and past camp with links to each. this month, documenting Africa’s first and largest Campus Connect program. Over a five-month period (with a two-month break for national holidays and elections), the WordPress Jinja community visited 12 campuses across Eastern Uganda, reaching 1,293 students and 81 educators. Led by @mohkatz (Mohammed Kateregga), the program brought hands-on WordPress workshops directly into classrooms using mobile ICT labs and local technology partners.
Student WordPress clubs were formed at multiple schools during the program, and these clubs will now serve as satellite communities of the WordPress Jinja MeetupMeetupMeetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. while being gradually formalized through the WordPress Student Club program. The next milestone for the Jinja community is WordCampWordCampWordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Jinja 2026, tentatively planned for September 2026.
The team recognized their mentorsEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues.@piyopiyofox (Destiny Kanno) and @mosescursor (Moses), along with supporters including @webtechpooja (Pooja Derashri), Harmony Romo, @peiraisotta (Isotta Peira), @thehopemonger (Arthur Kasirye), @clk87, and @muddassirnasim (Nasim Miah).
Also in Uganda, WPCC Lira became the third WPCC event series in the country and the first in Northern Uganda — a sign that the program’s footprint in East Africa continues to expand.
Scheduled and Upcoming Events
Several WPCC events are currently underway or confirmed for the coming weeks:
More events are in planning stages across Indonesia, Brazil, and other regions. Interested in organizing or supporting an event? Join the #campusconnectSlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/ channel.
Other WPCC Program Updates
Mentor program transition. The WPCC-specific mentor program has been retired and merged into the broader Event Supporters program. Eligible WPCC mentors are being onboarded as Event Supporters, and WPCC mentoring responsibilities now fall under the same framework used for WordCamps and other WordPress events. A new handbook page on Mentoring Campus Connect Events was published alongside this change. This streamlines the process, reduces complexity, and builds a more scalable support structure as the program grows.
WPCC Office HoursOffice HoursDefined times when the Global Community Team are in the #community-events Slack channel. If there is anything you would like to discuss – you do not need to inform them in advance.You are very welcome to drop into any of the Community Team Slack channels at any time.. Campus Connect Office Hours are now taking place in the #campusconnect Slack channel, giving current and potential organizers dedicated time to ask questions and share experiences.
WordPress Credits
The WordPress Credits program saw significant growth in March, with new institutions joining, new course formats launching, and continued momentum among students and mentors.
Program Numbers
66 active mentors
292 students currently in the program
8 graduates to date
18 partner institutions, across Asia (2), Europe (12), and North and South America (4)
New Partner Institutions
Ten new institutions joined the program this month, more than doubling the program’s institutional footprint. The full list of current partners:
University of Pisa (Pisa, Italy)
Fidélitas University (San José, Costa Rica)
Franz Tamayo University / Unifranz (Santa Cruz – Cochabamba, Bolivia)
Riga Nordic University (Riga, Latvia)
Ahmad’s Education (Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Krakow University of Economics (Krakow, Poland)
Cracow University of Technology (Krakow, Poland)
Central New Mexico Community College (Albuquerque, New Mexico, US)
IES Azarquiel (Toledo, Spain)
Creative Campus – Universidad Europea (Toledo, Spain)
Drew University (Madison, New Jersey, US)
Escuela de Arte Toledo (Toledo, Spain)
Escuela de Arte de Huesca (Huesca, Spain)
ERAP Research and Learning LLP (Kolkata, India)
Juraj Dobrila University of Pula (Pula, Croatia)
Escuela de Arte de Zaragoza (Zaragoza, Spain)
IES Venancio Blanco (Salamanca, Spain)
Zaragoza Dinámica (Zaragoza, Spain)
Spain now accounts for the largest regional cluster, with seven institutions across Toledo, Huesca, Zaragoza, and Salamanca. This growth reflects the strong engagement from Spanish WordPress communities who have been active in both Campus Connect and Credits.
New Course Formats
Two new course formats launched on Learn WordPress this month:
WordPress Credits – Self-onboarding Pilot — A self-paced onboarding experience designed to let students work through the initial program steps independently before being matched with a mentor.
WordPress Credits – 50 hours — A condensed version of the program structured around a 50-hour contribution commitment.
These new formats expand access and flexibility for students and institutions with different scheduling needs, making it easier for more people to participate.
Student Spotlight: Self-onboarding Pilot
Out of 10 students from Krakow University of Economics who started the self-onboarding pilot, six are about to complete onboarding and will be introduced to their mentors soon. One student has already decided to contribute to the Community team. One participant shared this feedback:
“I’m already more than halfway through the onboarding — it’s really enjoyable to go through! A big plus is definitely the simple vocabulary and the fact that I can come back to the course anytime, at any stage.”
Early results like these suggest the self-paced format is working well for students who benefit from a flexible, go-at-your-own-pace approach.
Mentor Huddles
Two WordPress Credits Mentor Huddles were held in March, timed for different regions:
These regular meetings give mentors a space to share updates, troubleshoot challenges, and coordinate across time zones.
New Sponsor
Smarthost.pl has decided to support the WordPress Credits program and will offer students a domain plus one year of free hosting. This sponsorship is currently being added to the WordPress Credits page. Smarthost.pl joins WordPress.comWordPress.comAn online implementation of WordPress code that lets you immediately access a new WordPress environment to publish your content. WordPress.com is a private company owned by Automattic that hosts the largest multisite in the world. This is arguably the best place to start blogging if you have never touched WordPress before. https://wordpress.com/ and Weglot as program sponsors, providing practical tools that help students build real WordPress projects during their contribution work.
WordPress Student Clubs
The WPCC Jinja recap highlighted a key development for WordPress Student Clubs: the student clubs formed at multiple schools during the Jinja Campus Connect series are now being gradually formalized and onboarded through the WordPress Student Club program. Each club has its own leadership and faculty support and will function as a satellite community of the WordPress Jinja Meetup while operating independently within their schools.
In Nicaragua, students who attended the first WPCC at Keiser University are already organizing to start their own WordPress Student Club. Similarly, the team at Career Institute in Faisalabad, Pakistan, has plans to establish a club on campus as a next step after their successful Campus Connect event.
These developments point to a healthy pattern: Campus Connect events are creating a pipeline of student energy that flows naturally into ongoing Student Club activity.
Other Happenings
New Course: Leading WordPress Education Programs
The Leading WordPress Education Programs course is now live on Learn WordPress. This course is designed for people who want to lead, facilitate, or support WordPress education initiatives, providing guidance on program structure, community engagement, and practical implementation.
These resources, produced by @devmuhib (Muhibul Haque) and @sumitsingh, are a practical toolkit for any organizer setting up an event website using the WordPress BlockBlockBlock is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. Editor.
Impact Numbers Updated
The WordPress Campus Connect page on WordPress.orgWordPress.orgThe community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ was updated this month with current program impact numbers. Organizers can now reference these figures directly in their own presentations and outreach materials when pitching Campus Connect to institutions and partners.
As WordPress Campus Connect (WPCC) events have continued to grow and mature, so have the processes and documentation that support them. When WPCC was first introduced, we created a separate, WPCC-specific mentorEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. program to meet an immediate need. At the time, information was limited and we needed a focused group to help define, document, and guide this new event format.
Today, that is no longer the case.
With stronger processes, clearer documentation, and an established foundation for supporting WPCC events, we will be retiring the WordPress Campus Connect–specific mentor program and integrating its responsibilities into the existing Event Supporters program.
Why We’re Making This Change
Over time, we found that maintaining a separate WPCC mentor group:
Created the perception that WPCC events are fundamentally different from other supported event types — which is not the case.
Introduced additional process layers on top of an already well-established mentorship structure.
Limited opportunities to leverage the full strength and experience of our broader Event SupporterEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. team.
WPCC events are simply another important event format within our community. By integrating WPCC mentorship into the Event Supporters program, we can:
Ensure more sustainable growth for WPCC events.
Empower more contributors to support these events.
Reduce unnecessary process duplication.
Strengthen consistency across event mentorship overall.
What This Means
The WPCC-specific mentor program will be dissolved.
Eligible WPCC mentorsEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. will onboard as Event Supporters.
WPCC mentoring responsibilities will now be handled within the Event Supporters framework.
Documentation & Resource Updates
To support this transition, documentation has been updated and integrated into existing resources:
Additionally, available WPCC resources will continue to be integrated into established handbook pages as needed.
We believe that dissolving the separate WPCC mentor group and strengthening our existing Event Supporters program is the best path forward. This change allows us to streamline processes, reduce complexity, and build a more resilient and scalable support structure for WordPress Campus Connect events.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to building and mentoring WPCC events thus far — your work laid the foundation that makes this transition possible.
